Danger on the river

Rescuers say water enthusiasts can be quickly swept away

All it takes is a slip and a swift current, and even an experienced swimmer can be swallowed up by the St. Joseph River.

In five years time, the winding tributary has swept away 14 people in Michiana and been the site of twice as many harrowing rescues.

Among the rivers victims are a business executive, an experienced kayaker, a young fisherman, a woman trying to save her puppy.

It looks smooth on the top, but you can quickly be pushed down. You can quickly lose your balance because of the slipperiness of the shore, said City of Niles Fire Chief Larry Lamb. The force is enough to knock you down.

Sleepy or swift?

For the 19 miles that the St. Joseph River spends in Indiana, its depth ranges from 25 feet to just ankle-deep. After heavy rains, the river velocity might be 6 miles per hour. The velocity, combined with the rivers current force, can make the water feel like a firehose on someone stuck against a tree branch (also called a strainer) or clinging to a canoe.

People with lifejackets literally can drown in strainers because the current force is great enough to push you down, said South Bend Fire Department Battalion Chief Buddy Al Kirsits.

Aubrey Candler Stevens can still remember how the river felt.

Seventeen years ago, when she was 11 years old, Stevens and her father, brother and friend were thrown from their canoe when it flipped over after hitting a tree branch near Leeper Park in South Bend.

The force of the water pushed her companions downstream, but Stevens was forced several feet underwater by the rushing current. She said it held her there for what felt like five minutes.

I remember looking up and seeing lights, and telling myself, Pull yourself up, Stevens recalled. We had lifejackets on, too, but the water had such a strong undertow, it was pulling me under.

Stevens managed to get her head above water and clung to the tree branch as the water rushed around her. Minutes later, a South Bend firefighter called to the scene jumped into the river to make the rescue. The current was so swift that Jim Luccki knew he had just one chance to reach for the girl as he was swept downstream.

I grabbed her as soon as I got to the tree, Luccki said. And she grabbed onto me and held on. She was frightened to death.

Luccki that year received a Lifesaving Award from the American Red Cross for his rescue, and those who witnessed the save still consider it near-perfect.

I watched it, recalled Kirsits, who was at the scene that day. It was beautiful. He slid right in there, popped her off that tree limb and swam her to shore.

Head above water

The rescue stories in the St. Joseph River over the last five years share one factor in common rescuers were usually able to reach the victim before he or she went under water.

Theres the man whose SUV slid into the frigid St. Joseph River off Riverside Drive in South Bend in February 2010, with his infant daughter in the backseat; or a pregnant woman, LaQuita Lockhart, who lost control of her car and careened over then Jefferson Boulevard bridge in South Bend four years ago; or 90-year-old Genevieve Vandoren, who accidentally accelerated into the river from the Mishawaka Martins Super Market on Ironwood Drive in 2009.

Its an uphill battle to find somebody in the river, Luccki said. If you can get to them before they go down, lucks gotta be with you, too.

In 2010, the South Bend Fire Departments Swiftwater Response Team was dispatched to the river 17 times for various emergencies. So far in 2011, members have been dispatched six times.

Once a victim goes under, chances of a rescue drop dramatically, experts said. The river is so murky that rescuers are basically blind underwater, Luccki said.

If you cant see past your face mask, its like finding a needle in a haystack, Luccki said. You can be six inches from them and not know it.

Danger zones

Given its hazards, swimming in the St. Joseph River in South Bend is strongly discouraged.

The sight of a swimmer is so rare that people generally call 911 when they see someone in the river assuming they are in need of rescue.

The most dangerous part of the river in South Bend is between the Angela Boulevard Bridge and the train track bridge several hundred meters downstream, Kirsits said.

Its absolutely one of the worst spots, said Kirsits, who was a scuba diver with the South Bend Fire Departments Swiftwater Rescue Team for more than 20 years.

The river narrows to half its width as it nears the bridge, intensifying the force of its current nearly four times, Kirsits said.

If boaters or canoeists arent paying attention, they can find themselves broadside against the bridge posts.

Ive seen boats, canoes, get crushed, Kirsits said.

It was near that same spot that 54-year-old Vivian Borysiak is believed to have drowned. Borysiaks body was found entangled in a large tree in the river nearly three and a half months after she went missing in the spring of 2007.

Police believed she went into the river to chase after her dog, Milo. Her car was found with the engine running near her home at North Shore Club condominiums.

Far more dangerous than the Angela Boulevard bridge, however, are the dams, one of which is in South Bend and another in Mishawaka.

Deadly dams

A dam in Mishawaka near Central Park claimed the life in 2007 of 15-year-old Troy Reasonover, who had been fishing with his friends on a summer evening. Reasonover stepped out onto the water near the dam, apparently to save a duckling, slipped on a rock and fell into the water, according to past Tribune reports.

He was found two days later, just 40 feet downstream. Officials said the teenager likely became trapped in the circular currents beneath the dam, which likely would have forced him beneath the water in an inescapable, circling current.

The dam is a very dangerous place, especially because of the hydraulics, Kirsits said.

Another victim was Jim Troutner, the chief financial officer at Fulton Industries who went into the river in Mishawaka to save the family dog.

There was also Dennis Houck, an avid kayaker who went out on the river on a spring evening in 2010 and never came home. His body was later found in Niles, and officials believe he drowned while kayaking, though The Tribune was not able to confirm a cause of death with the Berrien County coroner.

So far in 2011, at least one person has drowned in the river, and the second remains under investigation. James Woods Jr., 23, is believed to have jumped into the river while running from police after a traffic accident.

His body was found nine days later in South Bend a few miles downstream from where he is believed to have jumped in. The coroner has since ruled his death a drowning.

Safety measures

Officials say those who find themselves unintentionally in the St. Joseph River should get out as quickly as possible.

If you are stuck in a swift current moving downstream, it is best to float on your back, with your feet in front of you to take the impact if you hit a rock, tree or other debris.

Its sort of like Lake Michigan, Luccki said. The current gets ahold of you and it pulls you out people try to get back to shore, but all its doing is tiring them out and all of a sudden they are going under water.

The river is meant to be enjoyed, officials said, but if people recreate without a plan and without life preservers, the situation can turn dangerous fast.

We want everyone to enjoy the river, Niles Township Fire Chief Larry Lamb said. Its a great place to come and boat, even sit along the shore. We would never say, Never use the river. Just make sure you have a good plan. Boat in pairs.

The deaths should not scare people away but rather make them aware of what the river is capable of, officials said.

You just gotta use precaution, said Sgt. Mark Hines, a conservation officer for the Department of Natural Resources. If youre a non-swimmer, we encourage people to always use a flotation device.